Apparatus for carbureting air



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet l.

W. 0. CLARKE & A. B. GRIFFEN. APPARATUS FOR OARBURETING AIR;

No. 522,968.' Patented Jul (No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

W. 0. CLARKE & A. B. GRIFPE'N. APPARATUS FOR GARBURBTING AIR.

. No. 522,968. Patented July 17,1894.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

\VILLIAM O. CLARKE, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., AND ARTHUR B. GRIFFEN, OF

NEWARK, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNORS TO THE GILBERT (it BARKER MANU- FACTURINGCOMPANY, OF MASSACHUSETTS. I

APPARATUS FOR CARBURETING AIR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 522,968, dated July 17,1894.

Original application filed April '7, 1892, Serial No. 428,248. Dividedand this application filed October 27, 1892.. Serial No. 450,130: (Nomodel-) To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that we, WILLIAM C. CLARKE, of the city of New York, in thecounty of New York and State of New York, and ARTHUR B.

GRIFFEN, of the city of Newark, in the county of Essex and State of NewJersey, havejointly invented certain new and useful Improvements inApparatus for Oarbureting Air, of which the following is aspecification, this apro plication being a division of an applicationfor Letters Patent filed by us April 7, 1892,

Serial No. 428,248.

Our invention relates to that class of apparatus used for makingilluminating gas by passing atmospheric air through a vessel usuallycalled a carburetor, containing a volatile hydro-carbon liquid such ascommercial gasoline and thereby impregnating the air with hydro-carbonvapor.

In the application for Letters Patent above referred to we havedescribed a process of producing such a gas, whereby we regulate thequality of the gas produced to a practically uniform standardbyadmitting at proper 2 5 intervals fresh charges of a volatilehydrocarbon liquid to the carburetor, Where it is mixed or intermingledwith a heavier, less volatile hydro carbon liquid. In order to practicethis process successfully, it is neces- 3o sary that the volatilehydro-carbon liquid shall be admitted to the carburetor from time totime in such varying quantities as may be determined by observation ofthe gas flame at the burners to be necessary to keep the 3 5 quality ofthe gas uniform, and hence it is desirable that the mechanicaloperations necessary for admitting the hydro-carbon liquid to thecarburetor should be performed in the vicinity of the burners andpreferably at some convenient point in the dwelling or other buildinglighted. At the same time it is desirable that the carburetor, storagetank, or other vessel containing the volatile hydrocarbon liquid shouldbe located outside of the 5 building lighted and at some distancetherefrom.

To the end therefore of regulating the quality of the gas in a safeandeifective manner by admitting to the carburetor from time to timefresh supplies of volatile hydro-carbon 5o liquid, in such quantities asmay be indicated, by the flame at the burners, to be necessary, ourapparatus consists of an organized combination of parts, suitablylocated, comprising a carburetor, which may be of any usual or suitableform, and which is located apart from the building lighted, beingpreferably buried in the soil below the frost line.

In the cellar of the building lighted is a suitable air forcingapparatus connected by a pipe with the carburetor, which is alsoconnected by a pipe with a storage or supply tank located outside of thebuilding lighted for containing gasoline which is admitted therefrominto the carburetoras required from time to time.

From the carburetor a pipe leads to the burners in the building to belighted. At a convenient point in the building from which the operationof one or more of the burners can be observed is located a manuallyoperated device for controlling the admission of gasoline from thestorage tank to the carburetor.

The invention will be best understood by reference to the accompanyingdrawings, in which- Figure 1 shows an elevation of one form ofapparatusin which our invention may be embodied. Fig. 1 shows across-section of the carburetor shown in Fig.1 and Fig. 2 shows amodification of the form of apparatus shown in Fig. 1, the outer shellof the carburetor being indicated as broken away to show its interiorconstruction. 8

The same letters of reference indicate corresponding parts throughoutthe drawings.

Referring to the drawings A is a carburetor which may be of any usual orsuitable form, being shown in this case as a closed tubular 9o vessel.

Bis an airpump which may be of any well known form such as a meter wheeldriven by a weight, and from which a pipe 17 extends to the carburetorA, which is located outside the 5 building lighted and preferably buriedin the ground or placed in a vault constructed for the purpose.

O is a storage or supply tank for containing gasoline or similarvolatile hydro-carbon. It is also located outside of the building to belighted and in convenient proximity to the carburetor A,'with which itis connected bya pipe 0. The pipe 0 may discharge directly into thecarburetor, or, as shown in Fig. 2 of the drawings, it may dischargeinto the upper part of a chamber F from the bottom of which a perforatedpipe g extends lengthwise, through the carburetor. By this means aquicker admixture of the liquid admitted from the storage tank with thatcontainedin the carburetor is secured and the siphoning of the liquidfrom the carburetor back into the storage tank where the latter islocated below the level of the carburetor is prevented. In order to givea greater evaporating surface in the carburetor it may be supplied withsheets of fibrous material D stretched over frames d and fastened to aboard E running lengthwise through the carburetor.

In the form of the apparatus shown in Fig. 1 a valve 1) is placed in thepipe 0 leading from the storage tank to the carburetor. The valve isprovided with a counter-weight for closing it and a wire J attached tothe valve stem extends thence through the pipe I into the building,where it is connected with a bell pull P, which is located at anyconvenient point from which the operation of the burners may beobserved.

In using the apparatus the carburetor A is first partially filled withbenzine or other similar heavy product of petroleum, which serves as anabsorbent for the gasoline. Air is then passed through the carburetorfrom the air pump B and gasoline is admitted from the supply tank 0 byopening the valve '1) until such an amount is present in the carburetorthat the air passing through is sufficiently charged with the gasolinevapor to give a clear illuminating flame at the burners, when the valve'0 is closed and the further admission of gasoline is out 01f. Theapparatus will now run without sensible deterioration in the quality ofgas for a certain length of time which is dependent upon the amount ofgas used and other conditions, the absorbent liquid in the carburetorserving to equalize the evaporation of the gasoline until the greaterpart of it has been consumed.

When, by reason of the diminution of the.

amount of gasoline in the carburetor the rate of evaporation hasdecreased to such an extent that the quality of the gas is sensiblylowered as indicated by the flame of the burners becoming bluish thevalve 1) is again opened by means of the wire J, and bell pull P, until,by the admissionof a fresh supply of gasoline, the quality of the gas isrestored to the required standard as indicated by the normal operationof the burners, and the operation is repeated from time to time asrequired. By reason of the location of the bell pull P in the vicinityof the burners we are enabled to conveniently manipulate the valve r inaccordance with the indications afforded by the gas flame, while, at thesame time, the location of the storage tank and carburetor outside ofthe building lighted complies with the requirements of the fireunderwriters.

We do not wish to be limited to the particular device shown formanipulating the valve 0 from the building lighted, since it'is thelocation and not the nature of the device (so long as by it theadmission of hydro-can bon liquid to the carburetor can be controlled inaccordance with the indications afforded by a burner supplied by theapparatus) which is the essential feature of our invention in thisrespect and the same result might be accomplished in a variety of ways,as for instance, the valve may be operated by hydraulic or pneumaticpressure or by electromagnetism under the control of a suitable devicein the building or a loop of the pipe connecting the tank with thecarburetor may be taken into and the valve itself be located in thebuilding. In Fig. 2, also we have shown a modified form of apparatus bywhich the same result may be secured without the use of any valve in thepipe connecting the storage tank with the carburetor. In this case thestorage tank is placed at a lower level than the carburetor and an airpipe S extends from the building to the upper part of the storage tank.

Within the building the pipe S is connected with the upper part of aclosed vessel T. This vessel is provided with a pipe t which extends tonear the bottom of the vessel '1 and has a funnel at its upper end. Whenwater or other heavy liquid is poured into the funnel the air isdisplaced from thevessel T and passing through the pipe S exerts apressure on the gasoline in the storage tank and drives a certain partof it into the carburetor. The amount of gasoline so transferred dependsupon the amount of water admitted into the vessel T and inay thus begraduated to any desired amount. When the vessel T is full the water maybe drawn ed at the cock W at the bottom, the valve U in the'pipe S beingclosed when the water is drawn ofi to prevent the back flow of air fromthe storage tank.

The water may be admitted to the vesselT from the ordinary water pipesof the build ing and its admission and the consequent flow of gasolinemay thus be controlled from any convenient part of the building, or thevessel T itself may be located in any part of the building convenientfor its use and for observation of the burners. The advantages of ourinvention will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art since itis a most convenient means of regulating the quality of hydrocarbonilluminating gas from the immediate neighborhood of the burners, and inaccordance with indications furnished thereby while at the same time theparts of the apparatus containing gasoline are located outside of thebuilding lighted; the apparatus is also economical in construction,simple and durable and its operations easily understood.

What we claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. An organized apparatus for the production of illuminating gas withthe vapor of a volatile hydro-carbon liquid, consisting of an air pumplocated within the building lighted, a carburetor and a storage tank,located outside of the building lighted, a pipe leading from the airpump to the carburetor, a pipe leading from the storage tank to thecarburetor, means for admitting hydro-carbon liquid from the storagetank to the carburetor, and a manually operated device located in thevicinity of a burner supplied by the apparatus, whereby the admission ofthe hydrocarbon liquid from the storage tank to the carburetor may becontrolled in accordance with the indications afiorded by such burner,substantially as, and for the purposes set forth.

2. In an apparatus for producing gas by carbureting air, the combinationof an air pump located within the building lighted, a carburetor and astorage tank located outside of the building lighted, an air pipeleading from the air pump to the carburetor, a feed pipe leading fromthe storage tank to the carburetor, a valve in such feed pipe and amanually operated device located in the vicinity of a burner supplied bythe apparatus, whereby the valve may be operated and the admission ofhydro-carbon liquid to the carburetor may be controlled in accordancewith the indications afforded by such burner, substantially as setforth.

3. In an apparatus for producing gas by carbureting air, the combinationof an air pump located within the building lighted, a carburetor and astorage tank located outside of the building lighted, an air pipeleading from the air pump to the carburetor, a feed pipe leading fromthe storage tank to the carburetor, a valve in such feed pipe, and atraction device connected with such valve and 10- cat-ed in the vicinityof a burner supplied by the apparatus, whereby the valve may be operatedand. the admission of hydro-carbon liquid to the carburetor may becontrolled in accordance with indications aiforded by such burner,substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof we have hereunto subscribed our names this 26th dayof Octoher, A. D. 1892.

WM. 0. CLARKE. ARTHUR B. GRIFFEN. Witnesses:

GEORGE COSTER, WM. H. ERWIN.

